Gaius Copperwheel

Gaius Copperwheel is one of the NPCs from Ramsgate in Dauntless.

Biography
A privileged upbringing and extensive classical education have left Gaius, a genius-level graduate of the University of St. Avellaine, with little practical understanding of people and society. But he does have an abiding love of the world and its wonders coupled with a desire to make others see its dangers, too. He’s often been a bearer of ill tidings while tracking the unsettling atmospheric phenomena called dreadstorms. He commissioned a ship to carry him to an island near the path of an approaching dreadstorm to make further observations, but the ship crashed and only Gaius survived.

Gaius was left marooned for several months before he was found, and his mind still hasn’t quite recovered from the isolation. He talks to himself frequently, and often has extensive conversations in that regard. Quick and perceptive but lacking wisdom, he has a naturally inquisitive character that delights in observing and understanding the world around him. Refined sensibilities, slight pretensions, and a sheltered upbringing give him his accent and proper way of speaking, but he is hardier than he appears. Still, surviving alone for months on an island made him a little nuts. While not physically brave he will always stand up to ignorance with a martyr’s zeal, refusing to back down from facts he knows to be true.

Gaius is part tortured genius, part arrogant academic, and - since his experience being marooned and watching the rest of the crew die - a man driven to end the dreadstorm and behemoth threat at all costs. By turns irritable, enthusiastic, witty, and haunted, he will not pretend to hold loyalty to the ship or captain above all. Only his mission matters.

Quotes
''“It’s really quite simple. We in Ramsgate are here, at this elevation, in the temperate region we call the Helic Risers. Far below us, the islands are fiercely cold; high above, they are hot and arid. But all of these islands are in constant motion — somewhat predictable motion, fortunately, or we cartographers would not be able to do our work. One such cluster of arid islands we know as the Ecliptic Archipelago. Why? Because every year its course passes slowly above the Ram and the two island clusters move nearly in parallel for about a week. During this time the Ecliptics block out the sun and cast Ramsgate and its surrounding islands into darkness. And that, my friend, is your ‘Dark Harvest.’”'' — Cartographer Gaius Copperwheel